About six per cent of parents have gone into debt to help their children or grandchildren, with about two per cent tapping into the equity of their homes via a reverse mortgage.
Parents could be compromising their financial stability by taking on debt or exhausting their savings, financial comparison company Compare Club's head of research Kate Browne said.
"We're seeing cases where the bank of mum and dad is effectively operating as an unregulated lending institution, but without the safety nets," she said.
Younger people are getting financial help from their parents to crack into the property market. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Those who had taken out a reverse mortgage were 64 per cent more likely to be stressed about their mortgage than the average Australian, according to the comparison company's survey of 1000 people.
Intergenerational wealth transfers have become a prominent feature of a pricey property market first-time buyers are struggling to crack into, especially at a time of high living costs.
Parental assistance varies, but can include financial gifts or loans from savings, acting as mortgage guarantors, or letting children live rent-free in the family home.
As many as one in five parents have lent "substantial support" to their adult children from their savings, based on the survey.
Another 47 per cent said they were considering it.
Of those already lending money to children or grandchildren, the vast majority were reportedly in a sound financial position and rarely worried about meeting bills.
Older Australians are being warned of the dangers of lending money to their children to buy a home. (Glenn Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)
Ms Browne said some older Australians were in a position to support their children into homeownership but urged people to be mindful of costs in retirement.
"Health-wise, people need to make sure that they have enough money to secure aged care, for example," she told AAP.
She warned gifters and lenders to consider the full implications of their actions.
Reverse mortgages, for example, can be useful but often come with high interest rates.
Sky-high rents have been further adding to home buyer pain by making it harder to save up a deposit.
But fresh numbers from REA Group show advertised rents were unchanged in all capital city markets apart from two in the December quarter of 2024.
Brisbane and Canberra were the only capitals to record rent increases over the past three months.
Canberra was one of only two capital cities where rents increased in the most recent quarter. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Median advertised weekly rents in Sydney ($730) and Melbourne ($570) flatlined for six months, with rents growing at their slowest pace since late 2021.
The relief comes at a time when housing affordability in Australia continues to deteriorate, as households buckle under the strain of cost-of-living pressures.
The figures were good news for renters, REA Group senior economist Paul Ryan said.
"We're seeing, broadly, the market come back into a bit better balance between renters and landlords in a bit more rental availability," he told AAP.
"More investors are responding to higher rents by purchasing rental properties and making them available."
